Tigers made it two wins out of two in Pool 5 with six tries in a 46-10 win over the Scarlets who had opened their campaign with a big win over Perpignan in round one.
“The challenge was laid down to us and we responded to it,” said Tigers director of rugby Cockerill.
“Scarlets are hard to break down. In the first half we didn’t take the advantage as much as perhaps we should have, but we kept the composure and the intensity, and we scored five tries in the second half.
“We knew that if we played well and if we got it right we could cause some damage.”
Although delighted with the finishing power which brought tries for Tom Croft (2), Thomas Waldrom, Ben Youngs, Matt Smith and Martin Castrogiovanni, Cockerill was also happy with the attitude in defence of the reigning English champions.
“A good defence breeds confidence in a team,” he said. “We’ve been scoring lots of tries but we’ve said that we have to stop giving away soft tries. Defence was our theme in training this week and the attitude was excellent. Even right to the death when the game was already won, our attention to defend and not let them in was fantastic.
“Everybody in the 23 contributed to a great result.”
Tigers top Pool 5 with maximum points ahead of the double header with French championship finalists Perpignan in December.
“Not letting the Scarlets have a point from the game and us getting a win with the bonus point is very important and may have a say when it comes to the end of the pool stages,” Cockerill said.
“We’ve played two games, we’ve taken 10 points, that’s a decent position to be in. But there’s still a lot of rugby to come. We’ve got four tough games left in the pool.”
Among the highlights of Sunday’s win was the return to fitness of Toby Flood and Anthony Allen in the backline.
“For the big games you want those guys who have been there and done it before,” Cockerill said. “They are experienced guys and it was great news to have them back.
“Floody has only played 30 minutes of the season before today. It’s great credit to him and our medical and physio staff that he’s come through the game like that.”
Tigers are in back action at Welford Road again on Saturday when Bath Rugby are the visitors in the Aviva Premiership. Tickets are available now.
